Plea deal reached in med pot case

San Diego  The former owner of two medical marijuana dispensaries has struck a deal with federal prosecutors, pleading guilty to a single money laundering charge Tuesday and resolving a case that has been closely watched by lawmakers and the medical cannabis community.

Ronnie Chang, 45, had faced 77 charges, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, money laundering and conspiracy to distribute to minors.

His indictment in 2011 followed a lengthy investigation and the forced closure of two of his dispensaries, Club One in San Marcos and Extreme Holistic Care in Wildomar in Riverside County.

On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court to money laundering, admitting to knowingly depositing $100,000 in proceeds from marijuana sales into the bank account of his elderly mother in an attempt to hide the source.

The absence of drug charges in the plea agreement suggests a new realignment with Justice Department guidelines that give states more leeway to impose their own strict marijuana laws.

The Justice Department’s sweeping change in policy, explained in a memo to U.S. attorneys in August, does not make marijuana legal by federal law. But it does signal a shift in how the government will respond to growing support for marijuana in some states, including the recent legalization in Washington and Colorado.

The Justice Department has said investigative efforts should be directed at measures such as keeping marijuana out of the hands of minors and preventing profits from going to drug cartels and gangs.

The new guidelines didn’t appear to change the course of the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecution of Chang at first glance.

As Chang’s November trial date neared, prosecutors filed a motion three weeks ago arguing that any compliance with state medical marijuana laws, or Chang’s belief that he was adhering to the law, had no bearing on this case because those laws aren’t recognized federally.

Prosecutors were also asking a judge to prohibit Chang’s defense lawyers from using any terms relating to medical marijuana during trial, including the words dispensary, legal collective and medicinal marijuana. Such prohibitions were enacted during a similar trial against a Vista dispensary owner.

Attorneys for both sides on Tuesday declined to discuss the reasons behind the plea deal, citing an agreement with the judge to not talk publicly about the ongoing case.

According to Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group, prosecutors put “extreme pressure” on Chang to make a plea deal due to the fragile condition of his mother, whom he cared for before being jailed.

Carmen Chang, who attended the hearing Tuesday, said she was thankful her son was coming home with her to Wildomar.

Chang was to be released Tuesday evening from a federal jail, where he has been held for the past 18 months.

He is set to be sentenced Dec. 9 by U.S. District Judge Michael Anello, who will consider the government’s recommended sentence of time already served in jail and probation.

“Unfortunately the federal government continues to persecute legitimate patients even though they try to be compliant with state law,” said Eugene Davidovich, of San Diego Americans for Safe Access.

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy has been aggressive in going after medical marijuana dispensaries, arguing that they use the state’s medical marijuana law as a front for retail sales.

According to court records, authorities made contact with Chang in December 2010 as he drove a rental truck on Pala Road toward Temecula — a route that bypassed the Interstate 15 Border Patrol checkpoint. A Border Patrol agent pulled him over and found about $29,000 in cash and a pound of high-grade marijuana that he was apparently dropping off at his warehouse in Murrieta.

Federal and state authorities raided his facilities four months later. He was also accused of concealing his drug proceeds by depositing cash in his mother’s bank account and buying vintage cars in her name.

The case garnered further publicity in May when then-Mayor Bob Filner gave a news conference in front of the federal courthouse, urging jurors to find Chang not guilty if they don’t agree with the law. Filner, a medical marijuana supporter, was advocating for “jury nullification,” which is when jurors acquit someone even if they believe the person is guilty, because they don’t believe in the law the person was charged with.